Introduction → Race Tracker → Meet the Teams → Leg 1 → Leg 2 → Leg 3 → Leg 4 → Leg 5 → Leg 6A → Leg 6B → Leg 7 → Leg 8 → Leg 9 → Leg 10 → Leg 11 → Leg 12
Leg 21.04 – “Do it right, or you’ll insult them!”
The teams begin the 4th Leg of the Race by finding out that they will flying to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia! Teams will need to secure their own flights via a travel agent. And they will end up on any one of the flights that will connect via Hong Kong, Seoul Incheon, Beijing & Hangzhou or Beijing & Guangzhou. All the flights will arrive in Kota Kinabalu between 11pm and 3:35am.
Which means, HOURS OF OPERATION! At the first Route Marker: Monsopiad Cultural Village in Penampang.
Teams will receive a traditional Malaysian good luck blessing, two teams at a time, before being given the next clue.
That clue tells teams to make their way to the House of Skulls where they must count the number of skulls (42) serving as “trophies” of the warrior Monsopiad hanging from the rafters. The catch, only one team can go inside at a time. Plus teams will only have 15 seconds inside AND they cannot make any noise such as counting out loud while inside.
Once teams think they have the correct count, they must build a smaller replica of the House of Skulls with the correct number of small trophies hanging from makeshift rafters outdoors in order to receive the next clue.
Teams must now make their way to Sabah State Museum & Heritage Village.
Here, they must learn the Sumazau dance of the Kadazan people. Once they have successfully performed the dance for the visitors, they will receive the next clue.
That clue points teams to Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal where they will encounter the very first Yield of the Race.
After checking in at the Yield, teams must choose a marked boat to take them to a fishing trawler for their next clue.
And that clue reveals the Detour: Out of the Net or Pull Up The Trap.
In Out of the Net, teams must head to a fishing platform where they will use a net to catch 25 fish out of marked pens to receive the next clue.
In Pull Up the Trap, teams must take their boat to a group of lobster boats where they must pull up two weighted lobster traps, unload the lobsters and receive the next clue.
Teams must now take their boat to Manukan Island where they will find the Road Block: Who’s on target?
For this Road Block, teams must hit three different targets using Malaysian weapons. Bow & arrow, blow pipe and spear.
This is also the Trigger Point for this Leg of the Race. If at least two teams miss no more than one attempt across three targets, the U-Turn or Yield will be activated.
After the Road Block, teams can search the island for the next Pit Stop.
The first team to check-in here will win P200,000 courtesy of Shell V-Power Nitro+.
The last team to check-in here WILL be eliminated.
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“Director’s” Commentary
Yes, this is a recycled Leg! lol After recently finishing a rewatch of TAR4, I thought the Malaysian Legs were pretty good. At least, on paper. And it fits perfectly in the TARPHDME universe since the last visit to Malaysia was Season 12. Considering it’s one of the Philippines’ Southeast Asian neighbors, it only makes sense to visit the country. Especially Malaysian Borneo since the other TARPHDME visits have been concentrated on Kuala Lumpur.
Anyway, actual scouting of the area would of course yield much better and more interesting tasks that would fit a TARPHDME Leg. But this is what we’ve got.
The traditional blessing is a good, simple Route Marker for the start of the Leg. Needing an extra task for this Leg, I think one at the Monsopiad Cultural Village would be good. The task I have here looks very awkward on paper. But I really had no idea what else to do here.
The Sumazau dance task is a straightforward learn and perform task and the only other TARPHDME-added task to the original TAR4 Leg.
The rest of the Leg is recycled including the Detour and Road Block.
I think one last, extra task on the island might be good. Especially to have an opportunity for last minute competition right before the Mat. In the original Leg, I liked having teams run to the Pit Stop right after the Road Block.
Overall, perhaps a bit of a barebones Leg by TARPHDME standards. But a solid Leg nonetheless.